94 THE VOYAGE : PASSING IMPEESSIONS 



It is accomplished by exaggerating the motion of galloping 

 yourself on the saddle, kicking your heels into the animal's 

 flanks, and personifying a flying postboy.' 



This day there was time to botanise ; and after dinner 

 with the friendly Frenchman they ascended a peak imme- 

 diately behind his house, shaped like a steep cone with a 

 pinnacle on the top of it, amid prophecies that they would 

 break their necks. 



The ascent culminated in an arduous climb, and a descent 

 which seemingly could not be worse and was at least fresh, 

 on the further side. Swinging down from ledge to ledge, while 

 an agitated group of little niggers far below shouted and 

 gesticulated unintelligibly, 



I was well rewarded by finding, when about half way 

 down, a lovely fern with beautiful soft green foliage growing 

 like our Cystopteris out of the crevices of the rocks ; it grew 

 with lots of the Campanula and Umbellifer (found on the 

 way up) which so put me in mind of old Scottish forms of 

 plants, that I only wanted a companion who had botanised 

 over Ben Lawers to share my \ joys with me. [Before re- 

 turning,] I emptied my pockets into my travelling port- 

 folio, which I may mention here is the only good way of 

 preserving plants in the tropics, and were it not for the 

 weight, ought to be looked upon as an indispensable addition 

 to the vasculum. The poor withered herbs that I gathered 

 on my previous excursions used on my return to be more 

 crumpled still from the fiery heat of the sun beating on 

 the vasculum, and sorry specimens they have made, though 

 invariably put into paper immediately on my return. 



No time was left for geologising, though the relation of 

 the limestone and the volcanic rocks was an inviting problem. 

 But the whole scene left a deep impression, and the Journal 

 records : 



Man always looks back with pleasure to such spots as 

 this, where disinterested kindness has been shown him ; 

 when to this is added a new country and the charms of a 

 scenery half tropical and half what is dearer still to me 

 Scottish, both as to scenery and general features of a scanty 



